Mandzukic lifts Croatia 2-1 past England into World Cup final

Mario Mandzukic struck in extra-time as Croatia rallied 2-1 past England on Wednesday for a place in the World Cup final against 1998 winners France. Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic scored in the 68th and set up Juventus striker Mandzukic for the 109th-minute winner as they reversed England's early lead from Kieran Trippier's free-kick and made the showcase match for the first time.
They lost their first semi-final to France in 1998, and now meet Les Bleus again on Sunday at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in search of the biggest moment in the nation's short football history. "For Croatian football and Croatia as a country this is history being written," coach Zlatko Dalic said. "I don't know whether a smaller nation has been in the final."
"Maybe the dear god has given us a chance to settle a score. We don't seek revenge, this is sports. We will concentrate on playing the best game in the tournament." France, who beat Belgium 1-0 in the first semi Tuesday, are in a third final, winning 3-0 against Brazil in 1998 and losing on penalties against Italy in 2006. The 1966 champions England lost in the last four as in 1990 as their strong run in Russia finally came to an end. They meet Belgium in Saturday's third-place play-off in St Petersburg.
"At the moment we all feel the pain of defeat," England manager Gareth Southgate said. "I don't think realistically we expected to be here. But once you're here and played as well as we did, you want to take those opportunities in life. The dressing room is a difficult place at the moment." Croatia, which was part of Yugoslavia 28 years ago and not an independent state, overcame exhaustion from two previous penalty shoot-out wins against Denmark and Russia to prevail, the first team at a World Cup to come from behind in three knock-out rounds.
"What our players did, the strength, the stamina, the energy levels: I wanted to make substitutions but nobody wanted to be subbed. Some players played with minor injuries, two with half a leg. Nobody wanted to say 'I am not ready'," Dalic said. Southgate left his line-up unchanged from the last game against Sweden while Dalic returned to the 11 from the round of 16 match against Denmark; midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was back in place of forward Andrej Kramaric who had started against Russia.
And England got a dream start thanks to a 5th minute free-kick, awarded after Dele Alli was brought down after a nice flick-on by Jesse Lingard, which Trippier curled over the wall and into the top right corner from some 20 metres. It was Trippier's first England goal and the team's ninth goal from a set piece in Russia, of their 12 overall, a record since official statistics started in 1966. Croatia looked a bit rattled as England continued to attack and Harry Maguire headed wide right off a corner-kick.
Captain Harry Kane then missed a golden double chance for 2-0 on the half-hour mark, taking up a through-ball but denied by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic from point-blank range, and then by the near post on the rebound from a tight left angle. Seven minutes later Lingard miscued completely unmarked from the edge of the area. Some very sloppy defending then almost gave Ivan Rakitic a chance completely out of the blue on the stroke of half-time, but he was blocked at the last instance.
Led by Luka Modric, Croatia stepped up their efforts after the break. Perisic's blocked effort was a warning for England, and they were then level at 1-1 in the 68th, Perisic somehow beating Kyle Walker to flick home a cross from Sime Vrsaljko just as the defender waited to head it away.
England were shocked and Perisic hit the right post four minutes later on as Croatia found some new energy and once again headed into extra-time. Vrsaljko nodded John Stones' header off the goalline in the 98th but the winner came three minutes later at the other end when Perisic headed a clearance towards goal and Mandzukic beat Stones for the ball to slot past Pickford into the far right corner.
Croatia then hung on against England who finished with 10 men when Trippier limped off and all substitutions had been made. "It was a very difficult game, we all knew what was at stake, how important such a semi-final was for a small nation like Croatia. We showed character like in previous games when we were a goal down. We weren't that resilient in the past," Perisic said.